The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Finale: Rick and Michonne's ending

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes with Danai Gurira as Michonne in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.

Gene Page/AMC

[This story contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live finale.]

And those who lived lived happily ever after. the end.

for now.

The series is limited to six episodes The Walking Dead: Those who live It has come to an end, thus ending the story of Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira's Michonne, if only for now. Heading into the reunion series, there was no doubt that Rick and Michonne would get together again and kick massive amounts of ass along the way. Will they survive the aforementioned kicks? Another question entirely. But the Those who live The finale answered that concern with a resounding victory from Rick and Michonne, who not only stopped the evil CRM from waging war against an innocent city, but managed to do it all with enough time to return to their family in Alexandria.

“I think it was pretty clear that we needed him [to survive] “The epic journey,” says Gurira Hollywood Reporter About the happy ending to the season. “It couldn't have been easy, but this was always where they needed to land.”

Many items Living It changed along the way, including its transformation from a film trilogy into a limited television series.

According to executive producer and franchise mastermind Scott Gimple, the final product is very different from what was initially envisioned for the unproduced Rick Grimes films. But a happy ending for Rick, Michonne, and the Grimes family was never in doubt.

“I don't think that was ever on the table,” Gimple says of any talks about killing off Rick and Michonne. “I think we knew our endpoint. It was a journey of how they get to that endpoint and how they really save each other even after they find each other, how they transform each other from certain places they've gone with their identities, which in some ways is a story journey.” Beautiful Love. When people do this for each other, they may have found each other physically, but they need to find each other even within each other.

“We won't do that,” Lincoln adds. “That would be cruel. Besides, it would take more than six rings to kill me.”

Big words from the so-called “Brave Man,” as Rick became known around Alexandria after his supposed “death” in Season 9. In the final minutes, the brave man returns home, reuniting with his children, Judith and RJ, with actors Cailee Fleming and Anthony Azure reprising their roles from the original series.

“We wanted it to feel like a dream come true,” says Gurira. “You can't say there won't be happy moments in this world. There will be, and this is one of them. The characters have been through hell and high water to get to that moment.

“It was beautiful,” Lincoln says, recalling the day of filming, in which he worked with his children on screen for the first time. “It was a wonderful afternoon of reunions, finding a very intimate, simple, direct, and hopefully emotional scene. And it was amazingly emotional.

While Rick and Michonne are still alive and well at the moment, there's reason to wonder if they'll stay that way. While the trio of Lincoln, Gurira, and Gimple stopped short of confirming plans for future collaborations, there is an end Living This leaves the possibility wide open.

After all, what will happen when Rick discovers that Daryl and Negan exist in the universe?

“This is very smart, and we've talked about it at length,” Lincoln says. “There are still a few surviving characters in the universe, and it would be extraordinary for them all to breathe the same air at some point. It could be a massive, shocking encounter of sorts.”

Rick and Michonne aside, Gimple believes there are still many story opportunities in the world walking dead being. Living Resolving major aspects of the CRM story that first took hold in Season 7 of the main series. Are there any other planted seeds that seed lovers should be looking into now?

“What I will say is I'm cooking up my dreams and my fanfiction and see if it happens or not,” Gimple says. “But we have a track record of dreams coming true. This show was a dream. I think of Willy Wonka's quote: 'This is where my dreams become realities and some of my realities become dreams.' I don't think it's crazy if it happens and we're really happy with the response.” On offer.

Whatever the future holds, whether it's Rick and Michonne, all parties involved agree on their next steps within a framework walking dead The entire universe revolves around the same central need: compelling character-driven storytelling.

“There's something really satisfying about this character and what you've been able to do with her over the years,” Gurira says. “I know you don't always get this type of character and the way the writing allowed her to grow as a person and get to a completely different place than when we met her in Season 3. And that's something that I'm really deeply grateful for. And honestly, at the end of this, I was happy For her. I was very happy with my character. She went through that and her risks and ingenuity and bravery paid off and I love that for her as a character. What's in the future? I can't talk about that. But I'm so grateful for the journey she's been on so far.”

Head here for a refresher on Rick and Michonne's story.